Summer Fun 2020 is well underway! Here’s a day in the life for ya : )
5:45 am
Thomas has trained me to LOVE morning time. As much as I want to be a morning exerciser, I really have to ease into my day. Nothing wakes me up better than coffee and my laptop, which I leave on my nightstand each night. I love getting some emails answered, reading the Skimm, and getting organized for my day without leaving my bed.
7:00 am
The boys are awake and I’m up and at em! We all have oatmeal today. Peanut butter and banana smoothies are another very common breakfast.
9am
After cleaning up breakfast, watching some Peppa Pig, and getting Birch dressed, we head outside. Mazen has a playdate! (We have chosen to have a few friends over one at a time to play outside). The boys set the slip n slide up early and have a blast all morning.
Birch and I play in the teepee and walk around the yard and alley. We study leaves!
10am
The big boys are still playing hard, so B and I go inside for a snack. I set up B in the basement with his train set and get in a 30 minute weight workout around him. Thanks to Sydney Cummings on You Tube for coaching me!
11am
We say goodbye to Mazen’s friend and head inside for lunch. Birch has lunch around 11:20 most days and before I get him settled for nap at noon. I used to wait to eat my own lunch after he was asleep, but I decided that wasn’t a good use of time, so now we all just have an early lunch in the 11s. The boys also LOVE quesadillas, as do I. Birch’s plate on the top and M’s on the bottom.
I have a mix of leftovers – chicken, sweet potatoes, rice, broccoli, hummus and a delicious verde sauce from Flavor. This is why I don’t show you everything I eat anymore – I don’t have time to make it look nice on a plate! #momlife
12pm
Birch goes down for night night. We read stories before he gets snugged into his sleep sack. Mazen is still working on lunch and probably has turned on the TV while I’m gone.
12:15p
Mazen and I have quiet time. I let him play some video games so I can work. It’s summertime so I am OK with this during nap.
1pm
I go into the playroom to the printer and find a HUGE camel cricket. (Google that if you haven’t heard of them.) Mazen helps me kill it with a lightsaber – lol. Trust me, it’s back there.
2:15pm
Birch is awake! He has a snack (yogurt and Cheerios) and we play around for a bit!
3:30p
Nona comes over!! We hang out on the porch, read some books, and sip seltzers.
5:30p
Dinnertime! We’ve been eating on the early side. Thomas and I have these awesome shrimp bowls by Flavor here in town with kale, rice, beans, chips, guac, and salsa verde.
6:30pm
Bath time for the boys.
7:00pm
Stories and a quick rock for Birch.
7:30pm
Kindles and a few chats with Mazey.
8pm
Tidy up and relax on the couch with T for a few!
8:30pm
I take a great shower and end the day with my nighttime skincare routine : )
9pm
Reading in bed until my kindle falls on my face!
Terri says
I love reading day-in-the -life posts! Thanks for sharing.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
So lovely to see you guys enjoying the good weather! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Kelli says
All hail Sydney Cummings! The double horseback ride looks painful, but fun. The turf is looking beautiful!
The Many Thoughts of a Reader says
I need to remember to make some quesadillas for lunch soon.
Kori says
Your meals looks delicious, and it sounds like it was a fun day! I had to kill a nasty bug that was just chillin’ in our bath tub this morning. I HATE cave crickets! Anything with a ton of legs and can jump or run fast is a no-go for me.
Nikki says
Because you’ve expressed interest in learning more about racial justice and antiracist activities, you might be receptive to hearing that play teepees for white children are problematic. Cultural appropriation isn’t just a PC thing. It’s about the US having committed systematic genocide of an entire continent of people (ongoing even today), and then taking major aspects of this culture that it attempted to destroy and using it for the privileged group to enjoy, without cultural context or any understanding of Indigenous culture or any efforts to achieve justice. Only a few decades ago, Indigenous children were still being taken from their parents and forced to grow up in boarding schools (you can look it up if unfamiliar) where they were denied their family’s influence, love, comfort, culture–some *literally* had teepees taken away from them. The residues of this history are so strong today; the historical trauma (a good phrase to research if it’s new to you) is an incredible burden on Indigenous communities, causing them to suffer from higher rates of nearly everything terrible the world has to offer–health conditions, homelessness, poverty, incarceration, substance use disorder, early death…While white people continue to thrive off of this history. So a photo of a wealthy white kid playing in a teepee while entire families of Native Americans are literally living unsheltered in public parks in my neighborhood…well, I think you can see how this isn’t ok.
I hope you are receptive, Kath, and the following it meant for if anyone reading is still doubtful: think about it on a personal level. Imagine if someone had abused you, tried to kill you, killed your entire family. You continue to struggle with the trauma every day. Then you see that your abuser has taken something very personal from you (maybe a song your mother used to sing, or your grandfather’s paintings, or the story you wrote) and copied it cheaply and without any nod to the artist, and was using it to have fun or make money or entertain his own children. Wouldn’t you be enraged? Devastated? If you want to say: “Well I didn’t commit genocide, that was a long time ago,” would you be ok with your abuser’s son or grandson having fun with your cheapened mass produced family heirlooms?
Before anyone says that this isn’t the time or place to bring this up, I totally disagree. Kath has posted on her website and instagram that she is antiracist, and therefore uses racial justice as part of her public persona. It is therefore fair game to continue this conversation where issues of race arise on her blog. It is also the responsibility of white people to educate other white people around racial justice ANYTIME it is called for. It’s no longer ok to say you’re antiracist but not actually do anything about it. Kath has a platform, and if she’s really antiracist, she should use this platform for good. If getting rid of the teepee, writing something about it on your blog, and donating to a cause is the hardest thing you do today, I think that means you had a pretty good day.
Kath Younger says
Thanks for sharing this perspective and shedding light on these issues.
Jessica says
Well-said, Nikki.
Megan says
Wow-this was great. Thanks for writing it. I don’t have a play teepee but I truly had not thought of them in this way.
Donna Horne says
As a white woman who is deeply into middle age, I am a little ashamed to say that I never really thought of it that way either. I have some things to learn AND unlearn. Thank you Nikki.
Shalee Shuayto says
I love seeing what other people eat! Beautifully plated or not!
coco says
love the last part! reading and falls into sleep is the best! 🙂
Hillary says
I love seeing the random meals! Gives me more leftover inspiration !
Danielle says
Any tips for how to get longer naps from toddlers? My 19 month old also takes one nap per day at 12 pm, but he often wakes up after only 1.5 hours, but he clearly needs more sleep! Thanks!
Kath Younger says
Maybe try moving it up or back a little? I have no idea! Ours can be unpredictable too.